alt Hacker NewsThe Ente self-hosting proposition seems strange. Why would I want to e2e encrypt my photos that I self-host? Sounds like it will only make life more difficult.
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Because you want to access your photos remotely, or give access to more people to certain albums. If the point is to just store them locally and no remote access is needed, a hard drive would probably be enough.
If there's a server involved, there's no reason not to have sensitive files and information end-to-end encrypted, whether self-hosting or not.
You may want to self-host for your family or close friends while guaranteeing them privacy.
e2ee makes it easier to sell their hosted version, and there's probably not enough incentive to justify the additional overhead of having an unencrypted option.
Also, my house is less secure than commercial data centers, so e2ee gives me greater peace of mind about data safety.
1. "Self-hosted" doesn't always mean "on your own hardware." Some people rent VPSes. This helps keep their data safe.
2. The software is provided without modification; I think it would be stranger to remove the encryption.